Jack hadn't texted me all weekend. He hadn't answered my calls. He wasn't at the bus stop on Monday morning. I was hoping he's just slept late and he'd get on at his usual stop. When he did get on, he didn't sit next to me. He didn't so much as glace in my direction and sat next to a new kid, Asher. Ellie didn't acknowledge his absence, but Finn did.
"Where's Jack?" He asked me after sitting next to Ellie. I shrugged.
"He's sitting with that kid Asher. I think he wanted a change of scene or something, he's probably just being nice" I told him.
"Is it because of Ellie?" he whispered so Ellie couldn't hear. She had airpods in and was staring out the window.
"He told you?" I said, surprised. He nodded.
"We're best friends, of course he told me."
The rest of the day was terrible. Jack didn't talk to me once. Lunch was a disaster. Finn went to the library to work on a project with Millie, and Ellie had to retake a spanish test. Jack didn't sit with me. He sat with Asher. They seemed to be getting along well. Asher was nice, but I was beginning to hate him because he was taking Jack away from me. It wasn't his fault, but I couldn't help it. I tried to wave at Jack, and even offered him half my sandwich, but he ignored me. Jack had never ignored me like this before. Ever. He'd gotten mad at me a few times and not talked to me or a few days, but always ended up coming around if I made a joke or gave him food or something. Not this time. I ended up eating in the bathroom like a fucking loser. I didn't cry, but I sure felt like it. I just didn't know why it was such a big deal. Ellie kept trying to assure me it would blow over, I wasn't so sure.
It didn't blow over. Weeks had passed, and Jack hadn't even glanced in my direction. He sat with Asher on the way to school, and skated home with his skater friends after school. He sat with Asher at lunch, too. In the classes we had together, he either moved his seat or ignored me all class. You'd think I'd get used to losing my best friend. But I didn't. It still hurt, every day, when he ignored me. I started using Finn as a distraction, which didn't help much, since he was still Jack's best friend. One time I was in the middle of a conversation with Finn and Jack walked over and started talking to Finn like I wasn't even there. That's when I started ignoring Jack, which didn't work either. Finn finally noticed what was happening, which helped a little. He started to make sure he was talking to me, distracting me, whenever Jack was in the room. I was grateful for his attempts, but it still wasn't helping that much.
"You should just talk to him," he sighed. We were in my room, sitting on my floor. Finn was playing some video game on his phone, and I was doing homework.
"I've tried to talk to him. And text him. And call him. I've gone to his house. I've even asked his mom to get him to talk to me. Nothing works," I groaned.
"He's being a bitch," Finn said. I nodded.
"Can you talk to him for me?" I asked hopefully. He shook his head.
"This isn't my fight, sorry. You have to work it out on your own."
"Has he said anything about me?" I asked hopefully.
"Nope."
"Does he seem sad or anything?"
"He seems fine to me. He's even becoming friends with Ellie again."
"What."
"Yeah, they're hanging out today I think," he informed me. I sat up quickly, blood rushing to my head.
"How can Jack forgive Ellie and not me? This isn't fair." I felt like crying again.
"I don't know," he shrugged.
"That's it. I can't do this anymore. I'm talking to him tomorrow. I don't care how hard it is, I can't go on like this," I wailed. Finn's phone buzzed.
"Hey, I gotta go. Good luck," he said, kissing my forehead and leaving my room. I didn't think anything of it. Finn was always getting mysterious texts and running away. I hadn't even had time to think about it, I was so focused on Jack.
I almost missed the bus the next morning because I overslept. I couldn't fall asleep, I was too busy worrying about what I was going to say to Jack. I didn't talk to anyone on the bus, and I didn't talk to anyone for most of the day at school. I kept trying to make eye contact with Jack, but it didn't work of course. I decided it was best to confront him at lunch. I kept my head down until lunch, rehearsing what I'd say to Jack. I was leaving history quickly when I slammed into someone's elbow in the hall.
"Ouch," a voice said. I looked up to see Asher, the new kid, and Jack's apparent new best friend, rubbing his elbow.
"Watch where you're going," I snapped, bending down to pick up the notebook I had dropped. Asher reached down and got it for me.
"Let me get that for you."
"I can do it myself, thanks," I said, snatching the notebook from his hands violently.
"Look, I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm pretty sure you hate me. I just wanna say sorry. Can we start over?" He held his hand out for me to shake it. I stared at it for a few seconds then rolled my eyes and shook it.
"Sorry, I don't hate you. It's not personal, anyways," I sighed. We began to walk down the hall together.
"Hey, you're Jack's friend right?" He asked me. I shrugged.
"It's complicated." Then I froze. Asher had moved here after Jack and I fell out, or whatever the fuck even happened. Meaning he wouldn't have known that we were friends unless Jack told him. "Wait, how did you know that?"
"Jack mentions you sometimes. He always changes the subject right after though. You guys had a fight or something, right?"
"Something like that."
"I think he misses you. He's always staring at you when he thinks no one is looking."
"I was planning on talking to him today," I confided.
"That's a good idea. I can help you if you want."
"I think I should do it on my own. Thanks though."
"There's a party tonight at Lilia's house, Jack and I are probably going. You might wanna talk to him then," he suggested.
"Oh, ok, yeah, that sounds good I guess. I was planning on talking to him at lunch, but a party would probably be better." I reached my next class, and was about to turn into the door. Asher smiled and continued down the hall.
"See you there," Asher called, waving over his shoulder.
"Wait," I called after him impulsively. He turned back around, pausing. I half-ran up to him and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him. "Thank you." He patted my back, a little confused.
"Good luck," he said, turning away and disappearing down the hall. I don't really know why, but my talk with Asher made me feel a lot better. I was finally ready to face Jack, even if he wasn't ready to face me.
